Holiday travel with LO

Katzalia · December 2014

I'm getting ready for our first flight with LO, and looking for any tips from STM or those who have already done this. Some things I'm wondering about:

Did you take your stroller or a travel stroller or just plan to wear baby?

Carseat -- did you take on the plane or check or ?

If you checked your stroller or carseat, what kind of box or bag did you use to protect it?

How to get LO through the airports and flight as painlessly as possible?

How much to pack for LO for a week? Clothes, toys, pjs...

How did you handle the disruption to routine (dinner, bath, bedtime especially) when staying with family?

Katzalia · December 2014

We are headed to my ILs for a week. They are super excited for DD to visit, and got a PnP and a high chair.

I'm a little worried though. They have really rigid routines in the evening (drinks, dinner, coffee & dessert) that are not going to work for DD -- nor is she going to be asleep before dinner starts. Gonna be a little awkward dashing out 15 minutes into dinner to start DD's bedtime routine....

Also -- how is it that I have no idea how much clothing DD goes through in a week? I feel like I'm always doing laundry, but I don't have a count of what she actually uses.

Edited for typos.

Emmagk · December 2014

We're traveling back to the UK next Tuesday but did a shorter flight down to Florida in September.

DS is in a convertible so no travel system, we kept him in the stroller the whole time. We have a britax b-agile for travel so it's really easy to collapse last minute at security and the gate. However it might be good to have some kind of babywearing device on you in case someone makes you collapse the stroller early.

We didn't have a seat on the plane for him so gate checked the car seat - this is the bag we have for it (it's the only one that fits our wide car seat)

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B007OZZ4K0/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1418816419&sr=1&keywords=car+seat+bag

Our flight was right around bedtime so tried to keep the routine as normal as possible. I changed him in pjs for the flight, read a book and nursed on takeoff. We took the boppy pillow with us so he just fell asleep on that after nursing. He didn't stay asleep though, too many noises and lights. He also enjoyed looking out the window on landing at all the lights.

We took a few toys and way too many clothes. If you have access to a washer and dryer you don't need to take that much, especially if your LO isn't a spitter.

For the trip to Florida we were only 1 hour time difference so DS didn't really notice it and with everything else going on his routine kind of went out the window for 2 weeks. This trio I have no idea how he'll react since it's a 4 hour change with an overnight flight.

apinkpelican · December 2014

Wore baby. Checked stroller and car seat. Bought one of the airline bags for $15 bc we'll use it for years I'm sure. More than one flight attendant and several people commented that we were doing it right. I used the diaper bag as my purse so just had baby and one bag to take care of.

Bring birth certificate.

Best advice I got on here was to check out local rental companies and rent a crib. The one we got was nice and clean and baby STTN

Eta: good luck!!

gutsysneakers · December 2014

DD was only 9 weeks old so its been a while -

I wore her in my Ergo in the airport. I was going to see my mom - we rented a car seat. Friend let us borrow a stroller while I was visiting.

Someone I know just flew with her baby for the first time and did something I thought was super cute - thought I'd share if you were crafty and had free time - so if you're one of THOSE moms - good for you! She even included drink tickets for those sitting around her

spinsoffresonance · December 2014

I usually babywear and rarely use the stroller, so if I don't need to bring the car seat with me I don't take a stroller to the airport at all. With the car seat I take the snap n go and gate check it stroller and car seat. I definitely would not bring a nice stroller as they always get damaged a little even when you gate check it. But we don't use a bag for it. I keep baby in pajamas for the entire trip to make diaper changes easier. Wear the baby through security and to board the plane. I always bring 2 changes of clothes, 2 blankets on the flight and double the diapers I think I need in case of delays. Make sure the baby is sucking during take off and landing so nurse/bottle/pacifier .

Going through security with all the baby stuff sucks so try to check as much as you can and only bring what you need for the flight with you. For a week I would bring 12 onesies, 10 pants, 3-4 sweaters, 3 sleepers, 8 socks, 2 bed sheets, 2 sleepsack, and outerwear. That's way more than enough but ensures I don't have to do laundry. 2-3 toys, 1-2books.

For routines my kid sleeps great in the carrier so if we're out and about a lot she naps while baby wearing. For bedtime I try to stick to the normal routine as much as possible. Can you talk your ILs into moving dinner an hour earlier or and hour later so that it's not right during bedtime? My mom always insists that I should feed the kids first, put them to bed and then have quiet dinner with grown ups only. I have no desire to eat at 9.30pm so I keep telling her that's not how we do things, we like to have our family dinner and that's that!

hbird0723 · December 2014

Katzalia said:
I'm getting ready for our first flight with LO, and looking for any tips from STM or those who have already done this. Some things I'm wondering about:

Did you take your stroller or a travel stroller or just plan to wear baby?

I took the whole travel system as well. You can check the car seat and stroller before getting on the plane I I was able to keep her in the stroller and use the bottom for carry ons.

Carseat -- did you take on the plane or check or ?

If the seats aren't full they will usually let you take the car seat on but otherwise you have to purchase a ticket for an extra seat.

If you checked your stroller or carseat, what kind of box or bag did you use to protect it?

I didn't use anything and it was fine

How to get LO through the airports and flight as painlessly as possible?

I nursed during take off and landing. You could also use a paci or bottle. The sucking helped. Once the plane started going the noise put her to sleep.

How much to pack for LO for a week? Clothes, toys, pjs...

I packed a weeks worth and then a couple extra outfits. I also packed just a couple favorite toys.

How did you handle the disruption to routine (dinner, bath, bedtime especially) when staying with family?

I just tried to keep it as normal as possible. I will probably have to hold her for naps this time.

Katzalia · December 2014

Thank you!!! for all the tips and sharing your experiences.

We didn't get a seat for LO. It's crazy expensive to fly to Canada these days! I think we'll be bringing the carseat and stroller and plan to gate check them and I'll plan to wear her in the ergo (unless there's an extra seat available for her). In the ergo I can BF easily during takeoff and landing.

I got this bag for checking the car seat: https://www.amazon.com/Britax-Car-Seat-Travel-Black/dp/B0052IERHM/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_1 but am not sure what would be good for protecting the stroller (we have the Britax B-Ready).

It sounds like I wouldn't be negligent mama if I just rolled with things as best I can, rather than trying too hard to stick to our routine. For us, that will probably mean letting DD stay up a little later for dinner with the family, and then me skipping dessert & coffee to put her to bed. @spinsoffresonance, dinner has been served at 7 pm every night for 40 years, I don't think that's going to change now! so I will have to work around it. We haven't sleep trained yet and talked to our pedi about it and she said definitely wait till after the holiday travel, so I'm a little more comfortable about the disruption, as long as it works for DD. If not, then I'll miss dinner if need be.

And @bunannie, I am definitely expecting inopportunely timed poosplosions and am packing for the plan accordingly. How is it that the little ones can be so good at bad timing?! Also, how was infant tylenol not on my list?

Eta: @Emmagk, GL with the flight to the UK!

Katzalia · December 2014

Jcrewgirl85 said:

DD was only 9 weeks old so its been a while -

I wore her in my Ergo in the airport. I was going to see my mom - we rented a car seat. Friend let us borrow a stroller while I was visiting.

Someone I know just flew with her baby for the first time and did something I thought was super cute - thought I'd share if you were crafty and had free time - so if you're one of THOSE moms - good for you! She even included drink tickets for those sitting around her

Too cute! I am definitely not super crafty. I occasionally have delusions of carrying out pinterest-worthy things, and then take a deep breath and realize my to do list is so long it's not going to happen. But I'll pretend for a day or so that I might be the kind of mom who does cute stuff like that!

Katzalia · December 2014

Wait...you can rent cribs? @apinkpelican, can you tell me more about that?

spinsoffresonance · December 2014

Just so you know, they make you take the baby out of the ergo during takeoff and landing. It's ok during the rest of the flight.

apinkpelican · December 2014

Katzalia said:
Wait...you can rent cribs? @apinkpelican, can you tell me more about that?

Yes! One of you ladies shared this tip and it saved us during our week long trip to Florida. I'll see if I can find the company that was originally suggested. We ended up using a local company that the rental company recommended. I think some hotels rent them too.
I also rented a bouncy seat and a pool float for the week. They picked up and dropped off so we never had to worry about anything. I wished I would have rented a stroller instead of bringing ours. The items were in great shape and clean.

ETA: Here is the link:
https://babysaway.com/
It was @bunannie‌

Katzalia · December 2014

apinkpelican said:

Katzalia said:
Wait...you can rent cribs? @apinkpelican, can you tell me more about that?
Yes! One of you ladies shared this tip and it saved us during our week long trip to Florida. I'll see if I can find the company that was originally suggested. We ended up using a local company that the rental company recommended. I think some hotels rent them too.
I also rented a bouncy seat and a pool float for the week. They picked up and dropped off so we never had to worry about anything. I wished I would have rented a stroller instead of bringing ours. The items were in great shape and clean.

ETA: Here is the link:
https://babysaway.com/
It was @bunannie‌

Thanks! I'll have to look into whether something like that is available in Toronto. What a terrific idea -- I love the thought of traveling light.

flockofmoosen3 · December 2014

We just did a cross country trip and it went well. we brought our car seat and stroller and gate checked them. I bought a big red gate check bag for the car seat and that worked out well.

On the flight baby girl nursed for take off and landing and had no ear pressure issues. She was very hyper though so we lucked out having an open seat between us and she had room to wriggle. When she napped, I just held her and napped too.

Her nap and bedtime schedule was thrown way off but I didn't worry about it. We were moving three time zones for this trip so I started moving her bedtime back slowly about a week before and right now I'm moving it back to normal and giving her a few days to get used to it. Her naps were a crap shoot at my parents' house but it still worked.

I had access to laundry so I brought just 4 shirts, 4 pants, socks, and three pajamas for a 7 day trip. Her poops are solid now so no more explosions.

In the carry ons we brought one change of clothes, five diapers, a few non- rolling toys, and lots of puffs and baby food in pouches, and some other basic stuff. We even changed her at our seat on my lap one time and it went well.

Just don't go in with expectations either way and have either your boob or a bottle ready to pacify baby. this trip I broke a lot of our "rules" and we were all pretty happy.

Katzalia · December 2014

spinsoffresonance said:
Just so you know, they make you take the baby out of the ergo during takeoff and landing. It's ok during the rest of the flight.

I didn't realize that. Good to know ahead of time. There is certainly no discreet nursing outside the ergo. DD pulls off the blanket/scarf covering and likes to lean back and examine her prey before she pounces.

flockofmoosen3 · December 2014

If it makes you feel better, I nursed several times on the plane and at the airport terminal with no cover and no one even batted an eye that I noticed. So, feel assured that someone has done it and was okay.

Katzalia · December 2014

@flockofmoosen‌ , I'm glad it was NBD in your experience. I am generally not fazed by NIP, but an airplane is pretty close quarters. Frankly though, DD's comfort and needs are what matter, so I'd nurse her wherever even if someone was giving us stinkeye.

lilbeautysxt · December 2014

It was about a month ago that I flew with LO for the first time. I wore baby, but also saw several moms with strollers. I didn't have to worry about car seat or stroller because my parents had one for us to use when we got there. I kept LO in a sleeper the whole time. Didn't have to worry about her getting cold. I did bring her birth certificate but they never asked for it. If you wear LO you don't have to take them off when going through security. I would suggest buying changing table liners. I like using those, then put my changing pad from my diaper bag on top of it.

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